#if at the end of the story maybe twenty years down the lane lol | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

angelaiswriting · 3 years

Text

The Assistant (15 of ?) | Vladimir Ranskahov x fem!reader

[original picture found on: pinterest]

✏️ Pairings:

(almost official) Vladimir Ranskahov x fem!reader

Anatoly Ranskahov x OC (Paulina) mentioned

✏️ Requested by @kellydixon01 : Y/N–hacker, big mouth, even bigger attitude–is the new addition to Fisk’s team. Sent to help the Ranskahovs, she immediately gets on Vladimir’s nerves. But as time passes, they start to take a liking to each other, even if none of them is willing to admit their feelings. Yet.

✏️ Previously on The Assistant (aka I’m shit at updating): Y/N has moved in with Vladimir and the two have found themselves growing closer. There’s only one problem: Vlad’s old friend Ulyana thinks the two are a couple and has invited them over for dinner to celebrate.

✏️ A/N: y’all. Y’ALL. First off, I just want to apologize, it’s been forever and a month since I updated this; I’m not even sure there are still people reading/that remember this story apart from Alice lol. It took us me 144 pages !!! but it’s finally happening. Enjoy! I literally cried when I wrote the end of this chapter because it was about fucking time!

✏️ Warnings: fluff; and tears, but those were mine as I wrote this lol; Sergei has a doggie!; a smidge of swearing.

✏️ Word-count: 6,060

CHAPTER FIFTEEN: MATCHMAKER

Sitting on the closed toilet seat with the pipe wrench still in his hands, Vladimir could hear Y/N and Ulyana laugh in the living room. He couldn’t make out their words, for their voices were quiet despite their hilarity, and the left-ajar door of the bathroom didn’t help him any.

The most surreal situation I’ve ever experienced, that’s how Y/N had labeled it less than an hour ago, before he helped Lina bring in the tray with the cups of tea. And the more he mulled things over, the more he found himself agreeing. The most surreal situation I’ve ever experienced – and he had lived through plenty of what could be considered ‘weird shit’. Ulyana in general had been a whole exception in his book. Ulyana, with her afternoons spent playing bingo at the daily center for the elderly with all her old-lady friends; Ulyana, with her borscht and her endless words of encouragement and comfort when both he and Tolya had needed them the most.

But also Ulyana, so dead-set on the idea that he was too stiff and needed a gentle touch in his life that she just… mistook Y/N for his woman. As if he needed someone! But it was still a good thing in a way, though, he reasoned as he stood up and moved to stand in front of the sink to stare at his reflection. And probably his brother was right about the fact that he had to open up to her, tell her what he felt – and what he was scared of. And just… try, for once. Make an effort to take his private life into his own hands instead of just wasting it away on cigarettes and underground fights.

As he stood there, hands gripping the sink, wrench abandoned on the counter, he tried to focus on what existed beyond that scar on the right side of his face and all it meant. By now he was convinced that she didn’t see it – not because she didn’t want to, but because she was able to see right through it. She knew about his past, and not just about Utkin, but also about some of the stupid things he had done in his short-lived youth – he had told her about that over vodka, a bit more rarely over coffee. And while he had always had problems with that, he found himself having fewer and fewer now.

Yeah, maybe it wasn’t that bad to pretend he had someone that cared about him, and while that equaled lying to Lina, maybe it was for the greater good?

It came off as a question even in his own mind, but it was one he found himself being willing to put in the time and effort to find an answer to. It was almost stupid, to think that feelings seemed to terrify him to the bone, while he could take a gun pointed at his head any day without batting an eyelash. Because that’s what he did, that’s what the target on his back felt like.

Maybe all he needed was to grow a pair, listen to what Ulyana had always told him, and walk out there a somewhat taken man.

And not taken to the demons in his head, but to someone – a friend, maybe? – that he had learned to respect. In a way, that is; that road still seemed a long one, after all.

When he joined the two women again some twenty minutes or so later, after he had fixed the kitchen cabinet Lina had been too shy to ask him to repair, he found them leafing through an old photo album. Belka – Ulyana’s old, white cat – was snoozing in Y/N’s lap, the tip of her fluffy tail moving up and down every once in a while as she purred at her new friend.

It was a weirdly cozy view, one that seemed to put all the thoughts that were still swarming his mind at ease. He leaned against the frame of the door, arms crossed in front of his chest, and he just stared for a while, half-present in the moment and half-lost in his own mind. He didn’t miss the moment her head lifted up an inch and her eyes met his, though, and before he could realize anything, he found himself smirking back.

“Ulya is showing me the photographs of her wedding day,” she said when he moved away from the door and really entered the room. Her fingers absentmindedly scratched the cat behind one ear as she maintained eye contact until he sat down at the round table in front of the window to her left.

“Those are a must-see when you step foot into her house.” His was a playful huff as he lit himself a cigarette. They had all gone back to Russian, which meant that Ulyana had gotten to know Y/N faster than he had. “Next thing you know, you’re walking down Soviet memory lane.” And then, when his eyes met Lina’s: “You know I’m joking. Tolya and I have always loved your stories.”

The woman shook her head, but there was a smile on her face that somehow warmed his heart. It meant that it was all back to normal now; that, in her heart, she had forgiven him for disappearing for so long and never, not once, calling to check in on her. “This girl’s bewitched you,” she chuckled, patting Y/N’s knee with her free hand. “I don’t remember when the last time he wasn’t serious was, anymore,” she explained as she leaned back against the couch, giving her guest’s unasked question an answer.

Vladimir scoffed and when his phone beeped on the table with a text from Sergei a moment later, he stood up. “We gotta go now. Work’s calling.”

Ulyana had a look on her face that seemed to complain On a Saturday? but she knew he was a busy man with a demanding job, and so she dropped it. “You’re both invited over tomorrow,” she said instead. “I’ll prepare a nice dinner to celebrate together.” She closed the album of photographs and put it down on the coffee table by the side of the couch.

When she stood up, Belka seemed to catch the hint: she woke up, let out a huffy meow, and jumped down from Y/N’s lap to rub herself against one of Vlad’s legs.

“There’s nothing to celebrate, Lina,” Vladimir was saying as he let the old woman fix the collar of his shirt before engulfing him in a hug.

The way her eyebrows rose when she turned to look at Y/N was almost comical on that round face of hers. “He’s still as stubborn as always, isn’t he?” she whispered in her ear when she hugged her goodbye. When she turned back towards Vladimir, she had her hands on her hips and a firm look in her eyes that he knew he couldn’t escape. “You two will come over for dinner tomorrow night if it kills you! It’s so good to see you finally happy, my boy, and not just alone as always. And if that’s not enough, I haven’t seen you in months! Is this how you treat your old Lina?”

“I can’t believe she managed to convince you.”

He was driving to Sergei’s place when Y/N spoke again. They hadn’t exchanged a word after leaving Ulyana’s apartment and truth be told, he was almost afraid to hear her speak again.

“I can’t believe it either,” he groaned, one hand gripping the steering wheel tightly while his left arm just hung out the rolled-down window.

There were heavy clouds behind the buildings in front of them and it looked like it would start pouring soon. But the slightly chilly air was a blessing after that day’s stuffy heat, so he was ready to face the early-summer bad weather when it would come.

After that exchange, the silence went back to being almost embarrassed. She was looking at him from the corner of her eye – he hadn’t missed it, he was good at noticing things about people, even though probably not as good as he thought he was when it came to her. Whether she was trying to come up with something to say or not, though, he did not know.

His own thoughts were all over the place as well.

He had a little less than one day to come up with an excuse to ring Ulyana up with just so that he could avoid that dinner date she had organized. In his heart he knew she was doing this for him: she and Aleksandr had never had children, and that’s exactly how she had always seen him and his brother ever since they had first rented that apartment on her same floor. We’re all Russians, we have to stick up for each other, she had said once, one of the first times she had insisted they’d come over for dinner. She had taken care of them; and it was remarkable, the way they had let her into their lives, one kind act at a time, in a time when the Siberian wound was still tender and they didn’t know who to trust in this new, foreign land.

Then, a little more than a year and a half ago, when Anatoly had introduced Paulina to her, it had become just Vladimir and Ulyana most of the time. Tolya was busier now – he didn’t only have his job, but there was a woman now and he did things with her, took her places, came up with things just to surprise her for the sake of it… It had been a shock at first because that was someone more similar to the old Anatoly Ranskahov, the one who had lived in Moscow and had danced around a different woman every night – with the only difference that he was now a faithful lover.

“Are you upset?” Her voice tore him out of his mind once again and he turned towards her with a questioning hmm? that prompted her to clarify. “About her thinking that we’re together.”

He shrugged a shoulder. “I don’t think I am, nyet,” he confessed eventually.

She was staring ahead, not looking at him, but a smile still blossomed on her face at his words. “If I don’t tell you now, I know I’ll never have the guts to.”

But Vladimir was already slowing down to park the car and when Y/N turned her head to see what he was staring at with such a confused expression on his face, the faint smirk on his lips already fading away completely, she knew she wouldn’t be opening her heart any time soon in that car.

“What the fuck?” was what Vlad mumbled as he hastily turned off the engine, pulled on the handbrake, and threw his door open. “What is this?”

Sergei was standing there, a black and brown rottweiler laying at his feet, panting with its tongue almost touching the asphalt in the somewhat stuffy evening air.

“This,” his friend said, slowly, shoving the handle of the leash in the other’s hand before Vlad could come back to himself, “is Sharik. I need you to look after him while I’m gone.”

Vladimir stared down at the dog, and the dog sat up against Seriozha’s legs so that he could stare back at him better. He was a big piece of meat, and he could already picture him drooling all over the couch he had back at home. “Why?”

“What do you mean, why?” frowned Sergei, dropping the black gym bag from his shoulder to Vlad’s feet. “I told you yesterday, before you and Y/N left the garage. If I need to go out of town for business, I won’t be able to bring him with me. You agreed to look after him for me.”

While his owner spoke, Sharik sniffed at Vladimir’s shin with curiosity, and after a long moment of scrutiny, he lazily wagged his tail in approval.

“You need to take him out in the morning and at night, he loves walks in the park.”

“What?” He wasn’t sure the type of ‘take the dog out’ he was thinking of was the one Sergei had in mind.

“Don’t feed him weird shit. His dry food is in the bag. Don’t give him more than what I wrote down – he loves to beg. And make him play before bed, or he’ll keep you up all night.”

“What?”

“Your apartment complex also has a pool and he enjoys chilling in the water, so if–”

“I won’t be looking after your dog. What?”

Before either of them could speak, Y/N’s What’s going on here? made them turn in her direction. She had gotten out of the car, and while she was still holding onto the door with one hand, Vlad knew she’d soon come forward.

“Solnyshko, hi!”

Vladimir knew he was fucked when Sergei greeted her and hugged her back when she walked up to them. He’d manage to convince her and while she was just a guest in his house, Vlad knew he’d be the one bending his will.

Sharik gave her the same treatment he had reserved for him just moments before, but he sped it up this time, and the wagging in his tail wasn’t as lazy as it had been with him – it was a hard slapping back and forth against his leg that gave him just a slight taste of the dog’s strength.

“Who’s this good boy?” she cooed as the dog sniffed the palm of her hand before giving it a lick and allowing her to pet his head.

In no time, and before he had the chance to register what was going on, Y/N had gone back to the car and, appalled, he had to watch her lead the dog onto the back seats.

As if he had read his mind, Sergei reassured him: “Don’t worry, he doesn’t shed. But you still need to keep him brushed, it relaxes him.”

He stared at the car, kept an eye on Y/N as she put Sergei’s gym bag in the trunk, and then walked back around the car to sit on the passenger seat. She was still caressing the dog, her back turned towards the two men, when Vladimir spoke.

“You know I don’t deal with animals.”

Sergei scoffed. “We deal with much worse. Now, don’t be a brat, I didn’t have to listen to the two of you singing like shit last night just to then not be able to get payback.”

“We didn’t–”

“It’s all cool, Volodya.” Serzh patted his shoulder and grinned at him before turning back to stare at the car his dog had got into. “She’s nice, I don’t mind. It was about time you found someone that would headbutt you every time you headbutted them.”

“What are you talking about?”

“You know what I’m talking about, brother. Sharik is a good matchmaker, who else do you think got Tolik and Paulina together?” he grinned. “But if he is missing even so much as a hair when I come back, we’ll have a problem.”

He scoffed. “A threat? Over a dog?”

“He’s not just some dog, Volodya. He’s my boy.” He stared him down for a moment before turning around. He had already started to walk back towards the building he lived in, when he said one last I’ll call you when Aslan and I have left the state before Vlad turned his back on him.

Just as he had expected, Sharik launched himself onto the couch the second Y/N opened the door of his apartment. The only thing Vladimir could do was watch him run across the entrance corridor, fly mid-air, and then fall heavily onto the clean cushions of his couch half a second later. And to be such a big and heavy dog, he was fast.

“I’m going to kill Sergei,” he muttered but before he could take another step forward, Y/N stopped him with a hand on his forearm.

“C’mon, he’s just a dog, Vlad. Don’t be mean. I’ll get him down,” she chuckled and toed her shoes off before walking up to Sharik.

Sometime later, after that dog had finally stopped whining and complaining that he wanted to get on the couch despite said couch’s owner didn’t want to, there was silence again.

The next-door neighbor had knocked on the door not long after they had got home: he had heard the noises, and had felt the need to complain about that sudden surprise, and to poke his nose into business he knew nothing about – There’s a pet fee you’re supposed to pay if you want to keep an animal in here. And then, when Sharik had walked up to the door and nosed his way to stand between Y/N’s legs – Vlad has seen it in the mirror hanging on the wall right at the other end of the room – that very neighbor had found something else to complain about. Its size exceeds the limits allowed in this complex, or some shit like that. He hadn’t heard what she had told the dude; all he knew was that less than five minutes after he had shown up at the door, he had left with his tail between his legs, and so Vlad had managed to go back to staring at the screen of his laptop.

He wasn’t doing anything, really. For once, he didn’t feel like burying his head into his work – everything needed for Aslan and Sergei’s trip to Florida had already been organized, and the last touches for the upcoming shipment could wait until Monday. It was very un-Vladimir-like, to take a whole weekend off, but for once, he wouldn’t complain.

What he ended up thinking about – or, rather, whom –, however, was Ulyana. He had been praying for an excuse to cancel that dinner date for the next day, but he hadn’t expected to be actually presented with one. And although he still had the intention to ring her up and apologize, he still had to pick up the phone. He couldn’t possibly leave Sergei’s dog home alone, now, could he? Or did he want to come back to a destroyed house?

“Shari’s napping.” When he looked up, not even taken by surprise by her sudden appearance in the doorframe of the kitchen, he found her standing there, leaning a shoulder against the wood and staring at him. “What are you up to?”

“Work,” was his quick reply. “Checking that everything is in order and… stuff.”

“‘And stuff’?” She didn’t seem convinced, and she stared at him for a long minute, before dismissing it and sitting opposite him at the small kitchen table. “Anyway, why didn’t you tell me about this favor you had to do for Sergei?”

He shrugged a shoulder. “I didn’t know I had to look after stupid dog.” And then, when she raised an eyebrow: “A very smart, but spoiled dog. Better?”

“He’s not spoiled. Serzh just really loves him a lot,” she pouted. And when he glared at her, she continued: “This doesn’t matter, though. You have to find a solution for tomorrow night. Call Sergei and ask him how Sharik deals with cats, and then call Ulyana and ask her how Belka deals with dogs. Or something.”

“Why me?”

“Because I asked nicely? Because you got us into this?”

As it turned out a couple of calls later, Sharik was very gentle, almost submissive with cats and animals in general – despite his size, despite his face, and his breed, and the size of his paws big enough to be as big as at least three cat legs put together. And Ulyana had no problem having a dog over either – she had looked after a neighbor’s dog more times than she could count, and Belka was used to napping in her bedroom when another animal was over.

So, not a problem – as Lina had said. Just come over and bring the dog, I’ll have something ready for him too.

His plan to avoid that dinner date had miserably failed, although there was something inside him at the thought of showing up at Lina’s and pretending like he and Y/N were a thing of some sort that just… pulled at some strings he didn’t even know he had inside. And as he watched Y/N fill Sharik’s bowl just as they got ready to eat dinner, he found himself being almost happy that those strings were being pulled, for once in his life.

“So we just take him over to her place?” she asked him when she sat down, a steaming plate with rice and veggies right in front of her.

His diet had taken a turn for the better ever since she had moved in with him – he still had more vodka than was healthy to have hiding pretty much in almost all the cabinets in his apartment, but at least his fridge was full of food his body could actually digest this time.

“That’s what she said,” he grumbled.

They ate in silence after that, and only when he had done the dishes, did she speak again.

“Do you wanna settle for a story?” She was sitting next to him on the couch, with Sharik’s heavy head resting on a knee. The dog was staring at her with adoring eyes as she gently scratched behind his ears.

“A story?”

“Yeah, about how we met. How we ended up together. Ulyana asked a couple vague-ish questions this afternoon, so I think she’ll ask more tomorrow. No?” She glanced at him when he didn’t reply. “Unless you wanna tell her the truth.”

“I don’t know what I want,” he eventually confessed. “I don’t want to lie to her, but if I hear her ask me about ‘my woman’ another time, I’m going to burst.”

He didn’t expect to chuckle with her, but he did. And when they grew silent again, and she went back to staring at the TV screen after a quick Let me think of something, then, he laid his head back against the seatback of the couch, head turned in her direction, and studied the profile of her face. The way the corner of her mouth rose up into a smirk before she giggled at Sharik’s sniffing nose against her bare shin. The way her chest rose and fell with every breath she took, slow and regular and almost gentle. And before he knew it, his eyes had dropped closed and he had fallen asleep.

When he woke up sometime later – the clock on his phone signaled just a few minutes after half past eleven –, Y/N and Sharik had already left the room, and he was uncomfortably half sitting, half lying on the couch covered by a pile blanket. The TV was off, and not a sound came from inside the apartment – nor from outside in the corridor.

He briefly wondered whether Y/N had managed to come up with a story in case Ulyana would ask questions, but he barely had the time to walk into his room and sit on his bed, that his ears picked up some snoring.

There, bundled up under his blankets, was sleeping Sharik, who had somehow managed to make himself at home. He even had the audacity of staring at him with an accusatory look in his eyes, the fleabag, when Vladimir turned on the lamp on his bedside table to get a closer look.

“Get off,” he groggily ordered, yanking the covers back with a quick movement of his arm. “Get off my bed, dog.”

But for all he tried, the dog wouldn’t budge. And even when Vladimir picked him up and put him back down onto the living room floor, he barely had the time to close the door of his bedroom – something he hadn’t done since before Utkin – that Sharik was already pushing against it with his nose to slip into the room.

“You are stubborn beast, aren’t you?”

Taking him back to the living room by force didn’t help at all, for the dog wouldn’t stop bugging him. He had managed to lower the door handle twice in the half-hour Vladimir spent trying to get rid of him without… yeah, without actually getting rid of the fucking four-legged light of Sergei’s life.

When it became apparent that he wouldn’t have a good night’s sleep in his goddamn bed that night, was when Sharik almost tripped him over from behind just to then launch himself onto his bed much like he had done that evening with the couch – and the at least other ten times Vlad had tried to kick him out of the room. He laid there, on his bed, curled up like a too-big cat, staring at him with eyebrows that wouldn’t stop going up and down until he huffed out a complaint and went back to sleep.

“I’ll kill you, Sergei,” he groaned, rubbing his face with both hands to try and shoo the annoyance away.

He stood in the hallway for a while, then, eyeing the couch from the other side of the living room while mentally cursing himself. Before fixing the spare room, which he had turned into Y/N’s bedroom as the weeks had gone by, he had had to take care of his brother and by giving him his bed, he had had to get the couch. It was too small for him, and uncomfortable – and the thought that she, too, had had to sleep there for endless days before he got his shit together still stung, in a way. And since it looked like he wouldn’t be able to get Sharik out of his bedroom – nor out of his bed, for that matter –, he was left with only two options to pick from: either the couch or…

He knocked on her door before he had the time to talk himself out of it.

“Is something wrong?” She was scrolling through her phone when she told him to come in. The lamps on both nightstands were on, and it looked like she was still far from falling asleep.

“Dog’s in my bed,” he said, staring at her from across the room. “Couch is…”

“I know,” she chuckled. “Still not the worst couch I’ve slept on, though, don’t worry,” she continued when he made a weird face. “Stay in your half of the bed, and you can sleep here if you want.”

He didn’t sleep that night, however. He laid on his right side, staring at the wall, and she laid on her left, staring at the opposite wall. She had wished him good night at some point, when she had put her phone away and had turned the lights off, and he had answered with a hum. But then, he had just laid there all night, listening in on her soft breathing – and then her soft snoring – and he remained motionless. When he did fall asleep, sometime in the early morning, just before the first light of day peaked in through the curtains, his last thought was that maybe, this wasn’t that bad.

“Through mutual friends, if so one could say,” Y/N replied over celebratory vodka. Ulyana had kept her best questions for the end of the dinner and Vladimir had almost deluded himself into thinking the old woman would never ask. They had come up with a story to tell just in case, but silence would have been better. “I apparently showed up at the garage at the least opportune time.”

“Oh! So was it love at first sight?” Lina was pouring them all a second shot with one hand as the other one rested on Sharik’s head.

Vlad laughed – what an absurd concept, he found himself musing. Love at first sight? With someone as careful as him? And although Y/N kicked his foot under the table to try and silence him, he couldn’t fully erase the smirk from his face. “Nyet,” he chuckled eventually as he wiped away a tear with a knuckle.

“Hell no! He was very rude and stubborn at the beginning,” confessed Y/N, and Vlad was barely able to scoff at her that Lina had turned in his direction with a gaze of steel.

“Very rude?” she inquired, eyes squinting as she frowned. “With this lovely lady?”

“Don’t gang up on me, she was very stubborn too!” he complained. “Still is.”

“One ought to be stubborn if one has to put up with you, my dear Volodya.” Ulyana patted his hand on the table. “Doesn’t give you the right to be rude. I didn’t raise you like that.”

He had been on the verge of pointing out that he had, in fact, been raised by his own mother and not by her, but he didn’t deem it appropriate tonight – nor necessary. Lina didn’t mean any harm, and he knew what she was trying to imply.

“It’s alright, Ulya, he has learned how to tone it down now.” The smile on Y/N’s face seemed sincere, and at that moment, he wouldn’t be able to tell what she was thinking about. “Ever since we moved in together, he’s learned how to behave himself. Most of the time, at least.”

It was Ulyana’s turn to playfully slap Vlad’s forearm and he found it almost weird, to find himself with his back to the wall in front of those two. And not even in a bad way, with all of them drinking vodka together and celebrating a romantic relationship that simply wasn’t there.

What had he become? Lying like that to an old, dear friend… Without thinking twice; without remorse. He sat there in her living room, eating her food, drinking her alcohol, and he kept on adding lies to the fire without being able to stop.

“Hey, she’s not a saint, either! Tell her.”

Y/N laughed, and it somehow took him by surprise, it knocked the wind out of him. He fully turned his head to stare at her, and it almost felt like seeing her for the first time and for the millionth time at the same time. The way she tilted her head back as she laughed; the way her earrings and piercings caught the light of the lighting fixture; even the way her fingers brushed against his, and the way he ended up holding her hand in his. Warm and soft, the skin so smooth that he almost pulled away.

He watched her talk, recount the story of how they met – or a watered-down version of it, with anything too compromising being filtered out. And as she conversed with Ulya, her fingers played with his and his gaze kept on dropping down on his hand, never missing a movement. She had somehow ended up tracing the three-bar cross between his thumb and forefinger – without looking at it, almost as though she had done just that so many times that she had ended up memorizing its placement, its lines. And as she went on talking, her fingers brushed across the Xs on his knuckles, and he had to fight that sudden impulse that pushed him to pull his hand away.

A couple of hours later, when they had finally bid Ulyana goodnight and thanked her for the pleasant dinner she had offered them, he found himself walking his best man’s dog in the park just across the street from her old friend’s apartment building. He watched Sharik sniff here and there, and for a moment he found himself wondering if that was what a normal life felt like – walking the dog at almost eleven in the night, with plastic bags in a pocket in case the dog pooped, arm in arm with a woman.

“You’re quiet,” she said at one point, when they stopped under a tree while Sharik sniffed just a few meters in front of them. “Is everything alright?”

It took him a while to answer. And it wasn’t because he hadn’t heard her, but because he was afraid of somehow saying the wrong thing as was custom with him. “Da,” he sighed eventually, “just thinking.” He shrugged, but he didn’t make a move to pull away when her hand trailed down his arm and her fingers entwined with his.

“I had a good time tonight. I hope you did too, and that I didn’t push myself too far with that story about… you know, us.”

“It was fine, she bought it.”

“Doesn’t make me feel less bad, though.”

He turned his head to look at her, and for a moment, the thought of how it would be like to do this every night with her crossed his mind. “Eh, I know.” It was quiet for a while after that, but when Sharik steered off the path, he found himself cursing out in Russian. “Come here, you stubborn dog!”

“Don’t be mean, Vlad! He’s just a dog.” She ran after Sharik then, and he watched her take him back by the collar as he fished a pack of cigarettes from the pocket of his pants. He had just lit himself one when she took it from his fingers and put it out against the sole of her high-heeled shoe as she kept her balance with a hand firmly wrapped around his forearm.

“Why did you do that?” It was almost a gasp, half-surprised and half-pissed at a cigarette waisted in such a way.

“I had something to tell you yesterday, in the car.”

“You could’ve done that over shared cigarette!”

“I don’t want to taste cigarettes when I kiss someone, though.”

He almost opened his mouth to retort when her words registered in his brain, and all he could do was stare down into her eyes, not a sound leaving his lips.

“Like that night after the bar, just without drinks. I wanna do this sober.” She had taken a step forward, and they were now standing toe-to-toe. He could almost feel her, even with that short distance separating them – like when she had turned around and had ended up pressing her forehead against his back the night before, with the only difference that they were both awake now. “I want to kiss you again so badly it’s driving me nuts.”

That gasp didn’t leave his lips just because he managed to abruptly inhale quickly at the last second, but her words did make his heart beat faster somehow.

“I kept on telling myself that you’d do it, but you haven’t so far, and I can’t understand if that’s because you still dislike me or –”

He cut her off before she could continue. Her cheeks were burning when he cradled her face between his hands, and her lips were soft against his. Her hands came up to wrap around his wrists. When he pulled her closer, she let him; and when she deepened the kiss, when her tongue brushed against his teeth, he let her.

It was like one of those cliché moments, although it lasted for a couple of seconds at most: his breathing stopped, and the world seemed to stop with it as he kissed her. And then, when everything picked up again – his breathing, his heart, Hell’s Kitchen late-night traffic, Sharik’s tail snapping like a whip against his leg as he stood there – he found himself not wanting to pull away.

She did, though, and she looked up at him out of breath, his hands still cupping her cheeks and her hands still holding on to his wrists. “You’re so stubborn, I swear,” she chuckled. “But if you don’t kiss me again, I’ll go back to being stubborn, too.”

He cackled, and when Sharik pushed against his thigh with his nose, he looked down at him and shook his head. “Maybe Sergei was right, after all,” he mumbled before turning his attention back to Y/N and kissing her again, silencing her question before she had the time to voice it.

This is Sharik :) (pics found on Pinterest eons ago, I don’t remember the links, credits to the owner(s)!)

Comments and inbox are always open for feedback :) pls if you have any ideas you’d like to see in this story, feel free to hit me up, they’d for sure help me out lol since I’m slow AF :’)

TAGS (to be added to or removed from any list, shoot me an ask)

Everything: @idhrenniel @saibh29 @fuckthatfeeling @aya-fay @pebblesz892 @mblaqgi @becs-bunker @gruffle1

The Assistant: @flowers-in-your-hayr

People that might be interested: @kind-wolf @brobachev

#vladimir ranskahov #daredevil #vladimir ranskahov imagine #vladimir daredevil fanfic #vladimir ranskahov x reader #vladimir ranskahov fanfiction #fic series: the assistant #angelaiswriting

29 notes · View notes

floatingpetals · 5 years

Text

Boys in Blue || Pt. 1

Pairings: cop!Stucky x F!Reader

Warnings: language, frustrated reader(she’s a little ridiculous tbh), road rage(kind of)

Word Count: 2300+

Summary: (Cop AU) There was just one crappy thing after enough that happened to her. It possibly couldn’t get any worse, or so she thought until she saw the dreaded flashes of red and blue behind her. Could things get any worse?

A/N: This idea came to me after such a bad day. I can say this didn’t happen to me, but it would have been ironic if it had. It also might not help that I’ve been watching a lot of Live PD and America’s Dumbest Criminal’s compilations. However, the frustration is and was real. This might only be three parts to this in total for this story as well. I haven’t quite decided yet. Let me know what ya’ll think!! Enjoy!! Also, don’t do what the reader did if you do get pulled over. It might not work out like this lol

The gifs are not mine, credit to the owner.

Part One | Part Two | Part Three | Series Masterlist

Today sucked. This had to be the worse day Y/N ever had to date. First, it started off with her waking up late, almost half an hour later than she should have. It created a snowball effect where she had to rush to get dressed, put on a quick face of makeup, make sure her hair didn’t look crazy and be out the door in less than ten minutes to not get stuck in traffic. Fortunately, she made it with five minutes to spare. Unfortunately, she didn’t have time to eat breakfast and she left her lunch bag sitting on the counter beside her cup of coffee she had thrown in the travel mug. Of course, she hadn’t realized she left it behind until she was already on the freeway and couldn’t possibly turn back to get it.

Second, it wasn’t until she sat down that she realized she grabbed two different pairs of black shoes, on with a pointed toe and the other a rounded toe with a cute bow on the top. not something she could exactly hide. She stared blankly at the articles of clothing for a good ten minutes before she let out a heavy sigh. That wasn’t enough to really drag her day down yet. However, once she opened her emails from clients, she knew she was in for a hell of a day. Throw in the constant badgering by her boss and her coworkers poking fun at her flustered and mismatched appearance, Y/N was overwhelmed and nearly in tears by the end of the day.

Now after nearly eight hours of the most grueling day to date at her job, Y/N was trying to get home. There was an accident on the highway, so she hoped to avoid traffic by taking side streets. She was just ready to get out of her mismatched shoes, drink a glass of wine and take a relaxing bubble bath. Apparently, the rest of the world didn’t get that memo.

“Are you fucking kidding me?!” She slammed her fist on the steering wheel, screaming out for the tenth time in five minutes. “The speed limits 40! Not 30! Let’s go!”

She had been stuck behind the same jackasses for the past twenty minutes in the middle lane, locked in on both sides by equally frustrate drivers beside her. In all three lanes, there was a trio of cars matching speeds with each other, clearly keeping the traffic back considering there wasn’t a soul in front of them. All while going ten under the posted speed limit. Y/N tried to be patient; she really was. It wasn’t like she was asking them to speed, she really just wanted them to go the damn speed limit. But her nerves were already frayed and if these jerk wads didn’t go, she was seconds from slamming into one of them. Not to mention people kept honking at her for some reason, which only added to her already high level of stress.

“Oh, my sweet fucking lord!” She snarled for the nth time. Finally, the car in the right lane slowed down to turn, giving Y/N a chance to flip on her blinker a few seconds before she switched lanes and went around the 80-year-old woman in her unnecessarily giant Dodge pickup. Putting her foot to the floor, Y/N shot off ahead, finally hitting the speed limit. She switched her blinker back on the to signal her passing back into the middle lane, all while muttering oaths under her breath and keep her speed constant.

She thought she was finally clear; she was right down the street from her left turn to get to her apartment when a black and white Dodge Charger pulled up behind her. She shot a glance down to her speedometer, the little red line one ticks above forty. Surely, he wasn’t going to pull her over for going 42 in 40. Her stomach dropped when she saw the red and blue lights flash on. Of course.

“God damn it!” She cried. Tears started to form in her eyes as she slowly signaled to the right and turned into a parking lot. The cop followed right behind her, stopping two car lengths away. She kept her hands on the steering wheel, willing herself not to burst into tears. This was just icing to the cake.

There was knock on her window, startling her. She took in a deep breath to hope calm herself before she rolled the window down. Any ordinary day she would have swooned over the sight of the man standing beside her car. But today, she wasn’t in the swooning mood.

Standing beside her was a giant officer, his uniform seemingly a size too small stretched over his massive muscles of his arms and chest. The officer's dark hair was shaved close to the sides of his head, the top left longer and slicked back, one stray hair curling on his forehead. His dark glasses hid his eyes, but she couldn’t get over that jawline and cheekbones, strong and unworldly sharp. Alright, maybe she was in the mood for swooning.

“License and registration, ma’am.” His smooth voice sent a shiver down her spine, momentarily short-circuiting her brain. He raised a thick eyebrow, tilting his head to the side when she took too long to answer. “Ma’am?”

Reality crashed around her, and the fury she felt before came rushing back to the surface. The officer instantly noticed her shift, his face hardening as he waited.

“And why exactly am I being pulled over?” She bit, narrowing her gaze at the officer. He didn’t seem slightly deterred, tucking his thumbs into his belt loops.

“Ma’am. License and registration first. Then I’ll tell you why I’ve pulled you over.”

Gritting her teeth, she grabbed her purse from beside her seat and plopped in her lap to dig out her wallet. The officer waited patiently with a hint of amusement as she grabbed her registration from the glove compartment with a huff. Just as she went to hand them to him, she jerked it back.

“Look, I don’t know what possible reason why you decided to pull me of all people over for, but you clearly weren’t paying attention to the two people behind me that were going ten under the speed limit causing the backup, which might I add is illegal and more dangerous than someone switching lanes to get around them. As much as I wanted to make a show of going around those jackasses, I didn’t. I had my blinker on for the two seconds I needed before I safely got into my lane, made sure I was in it before I turned it off. Then when I got back over, I did the same exact damn thing.” She couldn’t stop herself if she wanted to. The officer seemed almost impressed, his eyebrows shooting up to his hairline as she continued her tirade.

“I have dash cam footage that can back me up; I did nothing wrong. It also has my speed limit on the video, and I can guarantee you I wasn’t doing anything illegal. None of my lights are out, my license plates are valid, registration is up to date and I have no record. So, I’ll ask you again. What the hell could you possibly be pulling me over for?”

The officer seemed at a loss for words. He shot a look over his shoulder to his partner that appeared behind him, a tall blonde that seemed to be made from the same tree. Where the hell did this precinct get their officers? A modeling agency? He was possibly the next best looking eye candy, that wore a size too small for his build, she’d seen right beside the gorgeous brunette in front of her. The blonde office had pushed his sunglasses up, his bright blue eyes growing wide the longer she went on.

She figured steam was billowing out of her ears at this point. Logically she knew this was the stupidest thing she could have ever done, arguing with a police officer. But this day was out to get her, and she wasn’t going to put up with it anymore. Drop dead gorgeous officers be damned.

“Listen, ma’am-.” The officer started again, laughing softly as he rested his palm on the roof of her car. Y/N wasn’t having none of his honeyed voice.

“Don’t give me any of your bullshit. Why did you decide to pull me over?”

He was quiet, looking over to the second officer who had to step away to laugh in private once again. He let out his own snicker, shaking his head as he pushed his glasses up off his nose. Y/N’s heart stopped when she locked eyes with his eyes, the grey-blue eyes sparkling with amusement.

“Ordinarily, I would sit here and demand for your license and registration again, but I can tell you’re a handful, aren’t you?”

Y/N glared at him not liking his tone. She gritted her teeth, clenching the steering wheel with one hand and balling up her license and registration in her other. It’s illegal to hit a cop, it’s illegal to hit a cop, she chanted silently to herself.

“Don’t fucking flatter yourself, Barney. I was already in a shit mood, you’re just the lucky one who gets to deal with the brunt of my frustration.”

There was a bark of laughter coming from the blonde officer on the other side of her car, any sort of control slipping away at her quip. Good, at least the blonde had good taste in television shows. The brunette glared at the blonde over the top of the car before returning back to Y/N, a lopsided grin sliding smoothing on his face.

“Alright. We clearly got off on the wrong foot.” Y/N snorted, rolling her eyes. He ignored her and continued. “I’m Officer Barnes, this is my partner Officer Rogers. The reason I pulled you over today isn’t because of you’re driving but because you have a couple bags sticking out of your back passenger door.”

Y/N blinked.

“What?”

He bit his lip and motioned to where Officer Roger was at the other side at the back door. Y/N twisted around to look at the back seat, noticing her reusable grocery bags weren’t sitting on the seat like they should have been. She vaguely remembers opening the door earlier that morning to grab her lunch bag if had been there, and apparently, she missed grabbing them and putting them back before shutting the door on the handles.

Office Rogers tapped the window, pointing at the lock. When Y/N could only stare, her face growing hot from embarrassment, Officer Barnes reached in and hit her unlock button. Officer Rogers opened the back door and gently placed the surprisingly still intact bags on the floor before shutting the door, grinning widely at Y/N as he did.

Y/N slowly faced front, shame and embarrassment washing over her. It took her a second to recover, she mindlessly passed the paper and license through the window to Officer Barnes, who only glanced at her name before returning his attention back on her. Y/N let out a long groaned and buried her face in her hands.

“Oh my god. That’s why people were honking at me.” She whined. it all clicked. Now it was Officer Barnes turn to lose control of his laughter. If she wasn’t so mortified, she’d have melted at the sound of his amusement. “It’s not funny! I just chewed you out for fucking grocery bags! Oh my god! I’m such an idiot!”

“Not an idiot, just a little tightly wound.” Officer Rogers chuckled, now back beside his partner on the driver side. He had a dazzling smile spread on his face, his head tilted to the side as he observed Y/N having yet again another meltdown.

The tears won out, Y/N realizing that she really was a moron and should have just shut up. instead, she put her giant foot in her mouth. The two men’s behavior shifted right along with her, neither liking the tears that fell down her cheeks.

“Hey, okay.” Office Barnes began uncertainly, looking at Office Rogers with wide eyes. He could handle giant drunken men with guns and knives, hell he could handle screaming, hysterical angry women. But a genuinely overwhelmed not mention pretty woman balling her eyes out was a whole different story. “It’s okay. We’re not gonna give you a ticket. It’s just procedure to ask for a license and all that. You’re okay. I should have just said it was ‘cause of the bags first.”

“Try not to take it too hard. My partner doesn’t have the best of tact.” Officer Rogers tried to lighten the mood with a joke, but Y/N didn’t hear him. Risking a move he knew he probably shouldn’t, he reached in the car an placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. “Take a deep breath and once you’ve calmed down, you’re free to go.”

Y/N sniffed loudly, wiping her runny mascara and tears with the palm of her hands. Great, she thought bitterly, I already made them think I was crazy and now I look the part too. Nodding through her tears, she took in a deep shuddering breath.

“I’m still an idiot.”

“No,” Officer Barnes repeated firmly. “You’re not. You’d have been an idiot if you smacked me like you wanted to though.”

Y/N let out a watery laugh, a smile growing on her face. The two men grinned, their shoulders relaxing at the sight of her wobbly grin.

“I wouldn’t say I wasn’t impressed with how eloquently you put your argument early, but maybe next time let the office say his reasoning before you start an argument.” Office Barnes said gently, passing the papers back into the car. She frowned, wondering when she gave him the papers but took them quietly.

Officer Rogers clapped a hand on his partner’s shoulder, nodding to Y/N.

“If you can, take a bubble bath tonight. Have a good night, Y/N.” He winked, flashing her another one of his dazzling smiles before he turned to head back to his car. Y/N face burned, his wink doing things to her insides. Officer Barnes stepped back in her line of sight, grinning widely.

“Drive safely. And double check your doors next time before you get in your car.” He chuckled, his crooked grin and insufferable cheekbones causing the butterflies to explode again. She nodded numbly, melting into the seat as the officer turned and headed back to his cruiser. She couldn’t help but stare at his backside as he moved. Sweet lord, he must live at the gym when he’s not at work.

Shaking her head, she put her stuff back in its place before putting the car in drive. As she drove away, she eyed the two Chargers that contained the most attractive set of officers she’d ever seen. And damn it all if she didn’t kick herself for not asking for their numbers, stupidity be damned.

Perma Tag: (CLOSED)

@dolphinpink310 / @breezy1415 / @hymnofthevalkyrie / @sebbyismyking / @vivideley / @cherrynat / @heelsandfaces / @lovely-geek / @libbymouse / @the-crime-fighting-spider / @dkpink123 / @moderapoppins / @chuckennuggets1213 / @jack4xx / @witchymarvelspacecase / @xxxunluvablexxx / @mannatgalhotra / @kingslaxerpark / @xxashy999xx / @silver-starburst / @cartersbarnes / @thinkwritexpress-official / @feelmyroarrrr/ @m-a-t-91 / @pizzarollpatrol / @sea040561 / @thefridgeismybestie / @sergeantjbuckybarnes / @jasura / @palaiasaurus64 / @teller258316 / @disagreetoagree / @lazinessisalliknow / @palaiasaurus64 / @bfuckjames / @sxdapxpcutis / @doraola / @kkaos15 / @tylerrose931617 / @mummy-woves-you / @claraoswinns / @buckybarneshairpullingkink / @delicatelyherdreams / @thisismysecrethappyplace / @dsakita / @look-to-the-stars-and-wish / @tomhollandtrashtm / @delicatelyherdreams / @cuddle-me-muke / @joyfulzipperpersoneclipse / @lisadickenson / @revenqers / @dannydelay / @musicgirl234 / @iamwarrenspeace / @breathlesspeter / @thebunkerofatlas / @geeksareunique / @ravennightingaleandavatempus / @mcdesij / @unlikelygalaxygiver / @tranquility-or-chaos / @bandbooktvaddict / @mywinterwolf / @piensa-bonito / @nevernotfangirling / @cutie1365 / @harryngtonewithyourshit / @slytherinqueenie / @famouslastlove / @riseandshibe / @blizzbx / @electra-hxart / @lianadelphius / @steebrogurz / @foundthezucchini / @bi-bi-bi-bisexualz / @whileinparis / @for-the-love-of-the-fandom / @delva-stardust / @awkwardfangirl2014 /

(Let me know if I missed you, the strike means I can’t tag you for some reason.)

1K notes · View notes

moriarty87 · 7 years

Text

About this Revival of a Revival business

Okay, so some of you messaged me about my feelings regarding the Metro article on Gilmore Girls Part 2: Three Women and a Baby, and some asked what it means for my stories, so I’m just going to address it in one long post because it’s easier than doing 15 different PMs. And maybe only three people will see this, but whatever (too few follower problems haha). Warning, extreme ramblings and nonsensical arguments are below.

My main gripe about all this is that AYITL ended perfectly for what the Palladinos wanted to achieve, despite the anger I had over it. Everyone got their okay-ish ending, and most of all people could speculate what would become of Rory, kind of like the end of Season 7. Fine, leave it at that. Great ending. BUT WAIT THERE’S MORE!

Emily’s story was perfect. Honestly, it was the best part. Kelly had fantastic lines and was tremendous. Amazing. Can’t think of enough adjectives. But for those of you who don’t know, Kelly really had to make it work. Her husband is ill, so one of the kids had to move up from Florida to stay with him while she was in California. It took a lot of finagling to get Kelly available. If her husband is ill would she want to do that again, and get a kid to take time off to help? So I get the feeling Kelly would be in very little (or watch ASP kill Emily off). Shame, because Lorelai’s relationship with her parents really makes the show for me.

Lorelai’s struggle over the death of her father was so wonderful. That phone call in Fall just about killed me. It was everything I wanted back in the original show. Again, Lorelai’s arc was just what I needed. Now with Luke. Most of the whole manufactured drama with Luke was because Amy said it always upset her that the fans never got the wedding they always wanted. So they needed a way to put the wedding in there. BUT THEN – they couldn’t even do the bigger wedding because shockingly all that money had to go into producing that stupid, annoying musical. And what would be their great manufactured crisis now? (Watch, one of them gets deathly ill or something). And now Lauren has a pilot – what’s going to come of that and trying to get her in the Revival Part 2: All Night Dance Marathon Electric Boogaloo?

Rory’s career arc was just flabbergasting. The reviews were right – feels like it should be about Rory in her twenties. After all these years she couldn’t go hmmm I need a job? Nothing about her career makes sense. How does she afford to travel? What is she even doing? Then she gets her big break with eccentric Naomi to write a book, which goes down the toilet, won’t even bother to try with Suzy says and Conde Nast, just ew. And then Jess appears and after four years goes “write a different book about your mom!” Which let me tell you, angers me no end. Not only is it as meta as fuck, but this is not a “fix it”, Rory. She will still need money to live before the baby shows up. That’s if someone decides to publish it. Then she’d have to find a way to support herself after it is published. Just, ew. It’s a cheap as hell solution to a much larger problem. But again, everything is swept under the rug by ASP and Co! So Miss “I want to be the next Amanpour” will just be floundering in the Hollow? *vomits*

I said long ago that I would be perfectly fine with whatever the Palladinos had in store regarding relationships. Naïve ole me thought they’d all just show up for a cameo. Listen, I never shipped. I still have magazines debating Jess versus Dean, but I didn’t shed a tear when they left. I was always like well Rory has moved on. Then the details of the revival came in. At first I thought, well the only one I could really see being all that serious would be Logan. Then spoilers trickled in and we knew he was in quite a bit, so it got me thinking. They spent a lot of money on Matt. Milo, who worked very little in early 2015, was only on set four days. It seems like Logan was going to be the contender. Alright, fine with me. I can deal with that. Makes sense. It was her most serious relationship and they loved each other very much. Can I go back to being that naïve again?

Then Amy and Dan said “I don’t know why people pay attention to who she dated in high school. Over and done with.” (That makes it seem to me like Dean and Jess don’t have a future btw) Amy and Dan acting like Rory’s relationships are not a big deal just annoys me no end. They were a big deal. OBVIOUSLY, IT’S THE BIGGEST ONE OF THEM ALL BECAUSE OF THEIR DUMB ENDING. So that brings me to the boys.

Dean was always the most blah. But his ending was great. Have fun shooting in Vancouver Jared because we really never need to see you again!

God, I’m so angry about Jess. We still don’t know very much about him, other than he’s an author and lives somewhere… and visits Stars Hollow often to see Luke and Doula. Still has a thing for Rory who just can’t really give him any attention (sad as hell). There’s so much I want to know about him! Again, they could have scratched that dumb musical for more Milo. He was available. I know Jess has a lot of fans, but I would personally need a lot of Rory/Jess scenes for a possible romance with Rory in Gilmore 2: Judgement Day. Rory said “I might have loved you,” but she never really reciprocated so I never got the feeling she ever did? So would Rory just go from not really paying attention to him for these last eight years to thinking he’s the love of her life? What? Even ASP and Dan went “they’re star-crossed and family now” so the rational side of me thinks that’s never going to happen. But then I think about how Luke was never intended for Lorelai but they changed because of the fans. And there are a lot of fans out there. But would Milo be involved in Revival Part 2: Return of the Krakenbaby? He’s in a popular show now. I don’t watch TV but I hear he has a big part. Won’t he be busy?

Then Logan! We know nothing about Logan! Why is he working with his father? Why is he Rory’s sounding board? Why is he the only one who knows what’s going on with her? Logan is her best friend, more than Paris and Lane. I know people don’t agree with me, but honestly, OS Rory and Logan had a mature, adult relationship. Logan understood her Stars Hollow and Yale life, didn’t disparage her about it, called her out on her privilege. Again, naïve ole me thought that Amy and Dan thought Logan was it based on the way they wrote him with all those stupid marriage references. Boy was I wrong. Listen, Alexis said we’d know who had won her heart. I think Alexis knows it’s Logan. So let me move onto this sham of a relationship they had.

They are having an affair, but it doesn't seem like an affair because it’s pretty serious for them? She’s basically living with him. Remember, Naomi’s book was going to take eight weeks. So she’s living with him for those eight weeks and who know’s how long she’s been crashing there before. She’s getting her shit shipped there. So this has been going on long enough for her to have the audacity to do that? They are going on to eat all the time, having fun, he’s planning dates. They are both putting in the effort to have this serious affair when neither of them do not put that effort into their other lovers. AND THEN we learn about his fiancee. I was like wow what the hell Amy why are you both making them so shitty. And I was all aboard the Logan doesn’t care enough to break it off train because for some reason he still wants to marry Odette but then… DYNASTIC PLAN? WHY in the world would they write that if it didn’t have some meaning? So does he not want to marry her? Rory doesn’t want this nonrelationship either but won’t tell him? Okay, Amy and Dan could have easily made it a wham-bam-thanks for the sex type of relationship, but no they did not write it that way. They are putting feelings into this. Logan is begging her to tell him what’s happening. There’s such a disconnect between what they write and what they want to show. Why do Amy and Dan want us to believe they don’t care about each other in some capacity? ARE YOU SEEING WHAT YOU’RE WRITING? So Rory are Logan are just going to shut up about what they really want in Revival Part 2: The Palladinos Strike Back Against Negative Reviews? Both will be unhappy? I just don’t get it.

So Rory is pregnant. It’s not the Wookie’s, it’s not Jess’, it’s not Paul’s. They said the hints were there. It’s Logan’s, we all know it’s Logan’s, it goes with her full circle bullshit after all. I get the feeling that Amy was going for Rory not telling him and doing it alone because you know, Rory has to lead the shitty life, but it’s just WHAT? Lol, let’s be real. Lorelai will know it’s Logan’s. Even Lorelai told Chris and always had the door open for him to be involved for Rory’s sake. Luke would be okay with it now because… Amy wants him to be despite his history with Anna? And Logan is a freaking adult, not a damn teenager. He can support his kid. He needs to know about his kid. I don’t understand how someone she dated for three years, who proposed to her, would not like to know. This is not a one night stand. Wouldn’t he find out anyway through the grapevine? But let’s be real, he’s never going to know or be involved because it goes with Amy’s plan, despite everything she’s written to the contrary. She wants her story. Hey, if Amy actually made it a happy ending I would be shocked. But I put it at 0.001%. You know what does bring me joy, though? That Lauren, Alexis, Kelly, Milo & Matt were all upset about Rory’s ending and to repeat Kelly’s words, “it was mean.” Matt (who also has a pilot) is too nice to say no to them so he’d probably make an effort to appear and man, that’s depressing to see where Logan would be.

Oh and let’s talk about this Life and Death Brigade business. These guys flew in from wherever the hell they were to take Rory out on the town because she was feeling upset. Something I found interesting – Rory has clearly kept in contact with them. She knows about Colin’s knee surgery. Again, Rory knows more what’s going on with her lover’s friends than her soon to be step-cousin Jess. She was putting more effort into keeping those relationships when it would have been so easy to get in contact with Jess. Then they have their big tearful goodbye where Rory is basically Mother Hen. So after all that, does ASP really think we’re to believe that pregnant Rory would just be ignored by these guys? That once they found out, one of them wouldn’t show up and be like “it’s Logans?” Remember, Colin and Finn helped Rory move out of her grandparents after she and Logan broke up. They are friends. So I don’t get it. Once again, there’s that disconnect between what ASP writes and what she wants to show.

So let’s talk about Amy’s grand plan. She and Dan said the father was going to be who was under contract at the time of the show’s ending. I’m also going to assume that it was going to be with whomever Rory recently broke up with. Someone on Reddit put together a list of each boyfriend and all their Chris comparisons (can’t copy it here), and it’s obvious now that’s what they were going for all along. And you know, after looking at that, the one I could believe that could fit that role best would have been Jess Season 3. Jess was so lost at that point and left without telling her, without a way for Rory to contact him. Rory going off on her own would have been believable. Dean, not really. Even if the relationship was doomed, Mr. Dean “I like the Donna Reed show type of life” would still be in contact with the kid. Let’s talk about Logan now. Season 5 maybe? But Logan, the one that walked out on his family after the disastrous dinner, wouldn’t somehow be around for Rory? (And let’s remember Shira was pregnant, and that’s why Mitchum married her). Season 6 is baffling because they parted so in love and Rory is living in the apartment. She can’t hide the baby. Season 7? (I know that’s not her season but come on) Lol, the dude wanted to marry her, Amy. So even if that was Amy’s plan all along, there’s that disconnect coming up again!

Well, I feel I’ve gone too far yet again tonight. This is a mess. TL;DR: I won’t be watching it Revival Part 2: The Curse of the Netflix Sequel. Part of the magic of AYITL was that they were able to bring everyone back. This isn’t Arrested Development. There are too many power players with busy lives. Could it happen? Maybe. As for me (if they do this) - I’m going to finish up the stories I’ve started/have planned and say goodbye to this fandom. I feel like the revival ruined Rory for me. Melodramatic, sure, but it’s just so sad and heartbreaking. It’s like Emily and Lorelai got these wonderful arcs and Rory became like Walter White (bad analogy but I’m tired give me a break). Jess, Logan, and Paris got shitty endings, too. There’s a lot of happiness I wish I’d see, but knowing Amy, god knows what she has planned. And frankly, I just don’t want to feel sick to my stomach again.

#please leave it at the ending you always wanted.#I hope everyone is on successful shows so they can't #please just what would even happen now.#please leave me with this show the way it is #moriarty's rambles

9 notes · View notes

rachelannc · 4 years

Text

Hi friends.

How are you all doing?

It’s been an interesting time to say the least, and as we’re more than a month into quarantine, I thought I’d take a step back to reflect and see how this past month has been.

Since my last blog post (The End of a Decade and Twentyseven), my life seems to have taken a complete 180. I was riding on the wave of 2020 with a newfound energy, excitement and my twenty-seventh year, until that momentum just seemed to take a halt. COVID-19 hit. The whole world was in a panic. I was on an absolute high of feeling at complete peace and anticipation of some new musical pursuits with my friend Kaitlyn. Everyone I knew was either worried, freaked out, or completely oblivious.

What, we’re supposed to not see each other? Wait, restaurants are closing down? Oh, people are losing their jobs? Wait, everyone is losing their jobs? Wait, no one is supposed to leave their homes?! Wait, should I see my friend or not and should I get mad at my friend who isn’t following these rules?

It’s been a huge cluster f**k.

When it isn’t so black and white. (Photo: Helen Jung | @jung_hakyun)

I have to say, if I hadn’t experienced a year of unemployment to get used to being in my own company, wandering aimlessly, and doing the real inner work to heal parts of myself that needed attention during that time, I probably would not have been able to handle this period of time as well as I have.

Weirdly enough, I’ve found some peaceful calm throughout this all. I’ve been taking a liking to the sun and parks and wandering with my guitar again. I’ve been getting back into my love of running and the outdoors, with frequent trips around the reservoir having quiet moments listening to podcasts breaking down some of my favorite indie hits and artists, brain-feeding myself, while also getting my daily dose of healthy “rundorphins.”

I’ve been loving it. I feel like myself again. Ands I feel like I’ve re-met who I was and always have been before I ever got caught in some sort of “work grind,” living like I had during postgrad, trying to figure myself out, trying to apply for 9-to-5s I knew I didn’t want, and occupied my time doing the things I loved.

This period almost makes me feel like I’m an emo high school kid, only that now I’m an adult, working, and maybe not so emo anymore — ha! But that’s the beauty of it.

https://twitter.com/rachelannc/status/1240473684214558721

It almost feels like there’s been a “break” on the world. How rare and blessed are we to be the only generation, and only people in all of time, to know what it was like when the world just “stopped” — when traffic disappeared, the continuous motion of jobs and work and consumerism and capitalism just stopped, and the world could just breathe again. Hell, I have never seen Mother Nature so happy! The damn air in LA is so god damn beautiful! I can finally go out into the streets and take a big whiff of the fresh air, rather than get smoke and smog caught in my lungs.

Small-town suburban little me is so so happy and feels so in her element.

But the whole thing seemed so sudden and none of us were prepared for it.

A lot of things may have been put on hold or postponed, but it’s also been interesting to see how people get creative with their time. It’s forced people to get real with themselves; look at what really matters; and lean on each other a little more, too. This time can bring out the worst or the best in people — and it’s interesting to see what kind of conversations people are having, with themselves or another.

https://twitter.com/garyvee/status/1242640566221000705

During this time, I was shocked that my workplace had let go of their entire workforce — except for me and one other person! (Wow.) I am extremely grateful to still be able to work during this time, that they trust and like me as an employee and want me to keep my job, yet — as I was before quarantine — I had yearned for more time to focus on all the writing, music and new energy I was putting into outside work.

Just like my time being “fun-employed,” I’ve re-met some parts of myself I still have to address. Like, as I was getting on this wonderful boat of being extremely present and creating and doing things in the moment, I could feel myself getting stagnant again, worried about making progress, not doing and finishing all the things I had wanted to… My “quarantine calm” had gotten so repetitive that I was itching for progress.

https://twitter.com/rachelannc/status/1245917831453016066

But, as this writer Emma Zeck had beautifully put into words, “What if you created art for the sake of creating? What if you allowed yourself to rest and cry and laugh and play and get curious about whatever arises in you?”

Perhaps as a gentle reminder, progress and success are just animals of this societal pressure we put onto ourselves — but at our cores, we are who we are, simply, in this time and space.

https://twitter.com/jamietworkowski/status/1240380155132096513

That has been one of the guiding thoughts I’ve been having during this time: “Just be present, just be whole, just breathe with yourself.”

While I like to think of myself as a pretty peaceful person who can thrive during this time, I’ve realized my inner restless wandering soul always wants to keep moving — maybe running away from things? Escaping reality? Hell, my inner Pisces loves escaping reality and this time where the world is on “pause” seems like a godsend! Yet, I can only wander for so long before I begin to want to find home again… A safety nest… A community and people and my family who make me feel my best, and like I belong.

https://twitter.com/rachelannc/status/1247381674293219330

Even though I haven’t made as many concrete “works” as I’d like, I’ve spent a lot in thought. I’ve been playing with a lot of different song ideas. I’ve revisited all my old scraps of music. I’ve been dissecting song structures and layering and production. I’ve been having conversations with myself in my head (and incessantly tweeting about it, lol). I’ve been looking at myself. I’ve been realizing that my upbringing is so different from others, that I have a lot to be grateful for. I’ve been realizing stories I have to tell. I’ve been more grateful for my past experiences and can’t wait to share what my life has been. And I’ve just… had a lot of time to reflect, and honestly be really happy with who I am, what I have, who I’ve been, and what I have to look forward to.

https://twitter.com/rachelannc/status/1249097096772247553

View this post on Instagram

In the past 24 hours, I dug into my old hard drives and uncovered a bunch of old concert footage, interviews, conversations with artists, intimate recording sessions and photo shoot outtakes… It was such a trip down memory lane! But if you know me, I’ve always been a fan of documenting. I’ve blogged my way through life since I was 13. I documented moments with friends and memorable conversations with artists who inspired me, taught me something, or even shared an intimate moment with. Each and every day, I feel like I’m coming more and more into my truth — and I always like to see where I’ve been, where I’m going, and where I am now. I think this #quarantine really helps us see and acknowledge these parts of ourselves. And hey, I’m not complaining! I look back at that younger Rachel who was trying so hard just to make something of her life, and her self…. And it was fun. I wonder why I was so hard on myself. But, as all things, I wouldn’t be who I am today if it weren’t for her. And I have so much love for that girl who was so lost and hustling so hard, yet didn’t even know why or what for. • 📸 #polaroid #selfie #shamelessselfie #summerdaze #headshot #smileyrachel #cheese #memorylane #archives #blogger #vlogger #homebody #ontherun #always #rachelannc

A post shared by Rachel Ann Cauilan (@rachelcansea) on Apr 6, 2020 at 8:03pm PDT

There’s so much to be excited about and hopeful for.

In times of uncertainty, we can all get a little anxious, but perhaps this is just a test for us all in dealing with uncertainty. I’ve always held the belief of letting things that are out of our control go. You can only control yourself and your emotions, for whatever is outside of you is outside of your control. It’s no use or any benefit to get stressed over things that are out of your control.

As a dear friend once told me, a big part in our happiness is in having something to be excited about, and excited for. Create things that make you look forward to the future. Reflect on how your days have been and how much you have to be grateful for. And if you’re feeling something heavy? Let yourself feel everything deeply and let the feelings go.

Everything in this life is temporary, so find comfort in that.

Those have always been some of my guiding principles. I hope you continue to have a safe, happy and healthy quarantine.

And please, keep in touch. I’d love to be a hand, an ear, a friend, or simply a muse…

When it isn’t so black and white. (Photo: Helen Jung | @jung_hakyun)

With love and honesty,

Rachel

How I Am Surviving the Quarantine Hi friends. How are you all doing? It's been an interesting time to say the least, and as we're more than a month into quarantine, I thought I'd take a step back to reflect and see how this past month has been.

#Black Raspberry Cinema #Coronavirus #COVID-19 #Helen Jung #Isolation #Los Angeles #Peace #Quarantine #Quarantine 2020 #Rachel Ann Cauilan #rachelannc #Self Isolation #Self Love #Self-Care #Self-Quarantine #Wanderer #Wandering

0 notes

taniasinel · 7 years

Text

Nancy Meyers Comes Home Again

It’s that time again. About every few years a new movie by Nancy Meyers comes out and it soon becomes my “all-time favorite movie EVER!!!”

Nancy Meyers at home.

In 1980, when I was a young, single, twenty-six year old, I went to see “Private Benjamin” with my best friend. We spent the entire movie elbowing each other, saying “this movie is so us!!!!” Of course we were never in the armed forces, but, we were Jewish American Princesses and we only wished we could find a gorgeous Frenchman to marry, like Goldie Hawn did in “Private Benjamin.”

Nancy Meyers wrote Private Benjamin with her then husband Charlie Shyer (above.) Since she is about five years older than me, Nancy’s movies often mirrored my own life and yours too, I’m sure. She either wrote, directed or produced Father of the Bride, Baby Boom, The Parent Trap and more. And then came her juggernauts: Something’s Gotta Give, The Holiday, It’s Complicated and The Intern.

The Juggernaut Kitchens

Those last four movies together, as a set, are incredibly perfect. One is better than the next one – it’s impossible to pick a favorite out of the four. Whenever one of those films turns up on cable, it hooks me in and I’ll sit and watch it, yet again.

Nancy Meyers is the voice of a certain age of woman. But there is more. While her scripts are always wonderful, her movies might be more well known for their sets.

Her houses are so well designed and so integral to the movie, it’s obvious that Meyers must be into interior design. Her own house in California was shown in “In Style” and it confirmed that Meyers loves to be surrounded by beauty. In an interview, she said that her mother was an interior designer and growing up she was surrounded by antiques and pretty interiors. It’s that background and basic love of design that makes her movies so attractive to other devotees of interior design.

Nancy’s Pacific Palisade’s charming dining room. Blue & white Bennison fabric, shades of things to come?

The Hamptons beach house in “Something’s Gotta Give” is still considered one of the prettiest movie houses, ever. Thousands of houses were inspired by that movie set.

At that time, it was thought that Nancy could never top that beach house. But, with “The Holiday,” she proved us all wrong:

In “The Holiday,” Meyers showed us not one, but two beauties – a cottage in the English countryside and the Wallace Neff house in the middle of LaLa-land. For her next two movies – “It’s Complicated” and “The Intern,” it seemed like Meyers was toning it down a notch. Was she worried her movie houses were the stars and she wanted to change that perception? The house in “It’s Complicated” was pretty enough but it wasn’t The Hamptons beach house. “The Intern’s” sets were in filmed in Brooklyn and with that movie Meyers went in a completely new direction: it was all industrial millennium chic.

About interior design, Nancy said "It’s my thing. It’s something I like, though I think it overshadows the work a little bit sometimes."

Well, I’m here to say, let it overshadow the work!!!

Enter Mark Sikes. And Reese Witherspoon. Add a sprinkling of Nancy Meyers movie making.

Expect magic!

When uber-designer/blogger Mark Sikes book “Beautiful” came out, the surprise was that Nancy Meyers had written the foreword. She told the story of going shopping with her newly married daughter, Annie, when they were busy furnishing Annie’s new house. They ended up on La Cienega watching a young, handsome man dressing the windows. They noticed he was using some of the same fabrics they had just chosen. That man was design’s superstar Mark Sikes. He walked outside and helped them with their fabric collection and he and Nancy bonded (this“meet-cute” scene needs to be in a movie!)

Sikes was hired to redo Nancy’s house and Nancy hired Mark to help on The Intern’s sets. He even had a cameo part, along with One Kings Lane honcho, Susan Feldman. After the movie shoot was over, One Kings Lane sold the props from The Intern’s set.

Wait a minute. Back up.

Did I just say that Mark Sikes is doing Nancy’s house? Is it in his book?

I don’t think so. I’m not sure he is actually through with the project. But, come on – this is a partnership made in heaven. Imagine Mark Sikes watching “Something’s Gotta Give” for the first time – all those blue and white stripes? Mark must have thought he had died and gone to interior design heaven!! I can’t imagine anyone better than Mark to decorate Nancy’s house.

Nancy showed these two images on Instagram that seem to imply the decor work might still be ongoing.

This past March, Nancy Instagrammed this photo showing what Sikes brought to their meeting. OK. Isn’t this the best idea – having a separate LL Bean bag for each client?!? Monogrammed no less? Why didn’t I ever think of this?!?! Hmmm. Probably because I was too cheap??? lol. Someone left a comment on this Instagram photo reporting that Gil Schafer Architects used the same LL Bean bags for their clients. I feel like such a loser!! Do ALL successful big-time designers use personalized LL Bean bags?!?!?!

P.S. I recognize that rug in her bag!

AND…

Then there was this photo that Nancy Instagrammed:

Here, she posted a classic white paint choice test. So, I’m going to assume Nancy’s newly decorated house by Mark Sikes is not finished and is not in his book….yet. Maybe the next one?

BTW, which white paint sample is your favorite? I vote for the first sample of the bunch.

And then there is Mark and Reese Witherspoon, the fresh faced actress from Tennessee. Reese hired Mark to design her new stores – Draper James - in Nashville and Dallas and Lexington – so far. Mark is also designing her large colonial house in Nashville. The Draper James stores are gorgeous due to Mark’s designs, of course.

Is there anything this man can’t do!???!!

I mean, how darling is this? Glossy navy blue doors with a scalloped blue and white striped awning with a lantern mixed in?

Inside Draper James - Reese Witherspoon’s shop, designed by Mark Sikes. Hmmm. Does this remind you of “Something’s Gotta Give?!?”

Draper James by Mark Sikes.

It’s a triad of blue and white and stripes – Reese and Mark and Nancy.

While Mark is busy designing Reese and Nancy’s houses and businesses, Reese and Nancy are busy making a new movie about an interior designer, newly single.

“Home Again”

Nancy Meyers is the Producer of the film.

The director AND writer is her daughter Hallie Meyers-Shyer.

Hallie and her mother and partner Nancy

“Home Again” stars Reese Witherspoon as a new divorcee and Candace Bergen plays her mother. Three very young men move into Reese’s guest house and hijinks ensue, especially when Reese’s ex husband, Michael Sheen, shows up. Mix in Reese’s two young daughters and a few friends – and it sounds like a great Nancy Meyers movie!

Hallie as the cute, little flower girl in “Father of the Bride” along with her older sister Annie.

Hallie grew up on her parents movie sets. She had cameos and small parts in many of their films but this is her first big splash and the pressure on her to succeed must be intense. It looks like Nancy was a very involved producer – on the set every day. But who can blame her? She must feel terrible anxiety as a mother, wanting her daughter to be successful in the field that she has soared in.

Nancy with Hallie in their kitchen, shown in InStyle Magazine.

Hallie is young. Very young to be directing a major motion picture. But, making a movie is a formula and Hallie seems to have it down pat. It must be in her superior genes (how lucky is she to have such a cool mother?)

The trailers for “Home Again” look adorable, the movie looks funny and sweet, and beautiful – exactly like a Nancy Meyer movie should be, even if it really isn’t Nancy’s.

Let’s face it. I’m rooting for Hallie BIG TIME. And I bet all of Hollywood is too. Nancy is very well liked in a town that finds fault with everyone and I can’t imagine anyone not wanting this movie to be successful. I want this to be the start of a new dynasty like the Barrymores and I’m hoping that one day soon, people will be saying “Nancy who? Oh, you mean Hallie’s mom?”

OK. Enough of all that.

What about THE house?

I have a big scoop about THE house. A BIG scoop!

But first….

Why DOES Nancy care so much about the décor of her sets?

She said: "If you’ve spent a chunk of your life writing a character and someone puts them in the wrong clothes or in a bed with sheets you know she would never own … it’s like somebody has added dialogue into the scene. Sometimes you pick up more from what you’re seeing than hearing.”

Oh, is that it?

On the studio lot, Nancy, Reese and Hallie – looking too adorable in their Mark Sikes inspired blue & white stripes and jeans!!! Seriously, which one is the movie star here? Do YOU have your blue and white striped shirt yet?

Go: HERE

And while Nancy’s movie houses are all so beautiful, what many people don’t realize is that it’s all a façade. The famous movie houses are not all that they seemed.

For instance….

The fabulous dining room from Something’s Gotta Give. Those slips were to die for. I had a client who called me from the movie and said – “I want my house to look exactly like this movie I just saw. Especially my dining room.” I asked her what movie she had seen. It was the opening weekend of the film and I had never heard of it.”

Movie Magic: Here is what the dining room really looked like – on a sound stage. The circular tract allowed the camera to move effortlessly around the table.

While the houses looked so real in the movies, they were just a façade. The Something’s Gotta Give Hampton’s house was located in the Hamptons, but all the interiors were filmed on a sound stage far away from the Hamptons. Nancy has said that she looked at over 50 houses in the Hamptons trying to find one where she could film the interiors, but no one would give them their permission – so she built the house on a sound stage.

All the interior sets were filmed on a sound stage, including its courtyard where they built the swimming pool. Meyers said that crew and visitors used to want to hang out at the swimming pool.

The Holiday featured not one, but two of the best movie houses ever. The charming and tiny English cottage was actually built in a field just for the movie. All the interiors were built on a separate sound stage. The Los Angeles house was an original Wallace Neff house in L.A. , while the interiors were, again, built on a sound stage.

Here the English cottage is being built – it took only two weeks to erect the façade.

The “stone” wall around the house was also built for the movie. I wonder if the house still stands today?

Photos thanks to: Hooked on Houses HERE.

For the movie “It’s Complicated,” the exterior was a charming house in Thousand Oaks but the beautiful flower/vegetable garden was created just for the movie, and all the interiors were built on a sound stage.

The entire front façade of the house was recreated on a sound stage in New York. You can see the trees on the right were actually a mural. This seems such a huge expense that only a mega hit like a Nancy Meyers movie could afford.

The Intern was filmed in Brooklyn – in a townhouse (!) where people truly lived; the loft office was created on at Brooklyn stage.

Which brings us to today’s topic, “Home Again.”

I would assume that filming on a sound stage can get very expensive. You have to build a house – that can’t be cheap. Is it less expensive to film the interiors and exteriors at the same location instead of having an actual, real façade and a separate sound stage set for the interiors?

While Nancy is a well-seasoned and proven movie-maker, Hallie is new to the game and “Home Again” is her first movie. Would the studio give Hallie as much money to spend on sets as they would if Nancy was also the director/writer and not just the producer? I don’t know the answer. But, I assume budgetary concerns were an issue, as they always are with films.

Judging by the trailers, the sets do look like as expensive as a Nancy Meyers movie. They even hired A list stars for the top three roles: Reese Witherspoon, Michael Sheen, and Candace Bergen.

In an ironical twist, Reese was originally set to star in “The Intern,” a role that eventually went to Anne Hathaway instead, which freed up Reese to star in “Home Again.”

Even the poster says – “first class.” Just recently released, the movie’s poster is all pink and red, shades taken directly from the color palette mood board created for the movie. Reese wears this red dress in an important scene in the movie. I love the poster!!!

Reese’s role was originally to be played by Rose Byrne. She is a great comedic actress too, but I think Reese looks perfect for the part.

Here is the mood board created for the movie’s color palette. It shows the colors and decorative style for “Home Again.” Notice the blue and white tiles. You will see those again – AND also notice the bedroom. That, too, shows up again, later.

Production Design: Ellen Brill

Art Direction: Brianna Gorton

Set Decoration: Nicole Cates

This photo is from the set – the family room where Reese/Alice has an office.

Can you guess her profession?

Notice the cute curtains and chair.

And from the movie, Alice hard at work.

Yes, she looks like an interior designer working on her board!!!

OMG – now I REALLY can’t wait to see the movie!!!!!

A Nancy Meyers moving starring an Interior Designer!!!!!

And here, Alice leaves her house holding what appears to be a mood board created for her interior design client. Seriously y’all. I’m about to burst!!!

A Nancy Meyers’ movie about an interior designer!!!!!

The House

The house where Reese/Alice lives is very reminiscent of the “It’s Complicated” house – a one story, Spanish styled, stucco vision. In fact, at first glance you might even think it was the same house...

But it’s not.

Here is the “It’s Complicated” house where Meryl Streep lived. Nancy altered the façade by adding new landscape to soften if up. Read my story about the actual house in “It’s Complicated” HERE.

And here is the house where “Home Again” was filmed. It has the same Spanish Californian look that the “It’s Complicated” house had. Look how pretty this house is. It is actually much prettier than the “It’s Complicated” house.

And, this house has a much more important pedigree.

It is significant that the interiors for “Home Again” were filmed in the house itself, as opposed to on a sound stage. It will be interesting to see if the feel of the movie will be more realistic because of that – or will it not matter?

So far, two trailers for “Home Again” have been released, along with a host of Instagram photos.

Here’s another view. Past the gravel driveway is the courtyard with a fountain.

Here is the gravel driveway that leads up to the courtyard. The crew is getting set for the day’s filming, so they put down plywood to make it easier to move equipment on the gravel drive (I suppose!)

Here’s an aerial view of the house. A gate closes off the driveway to the street, while a stucco wall completely encloses the entire property. Past the gravel driveway is the courtyard and to the right is the sweeping front lawn that leads up to the house with its tall chimney. At the left rear, there is an outdoor fireplace and terrace and along the back is the swimming pool.

Now, what every photo doesn’t show is the guest house – which drove me a little crazy trying to find it. But I finally found it!!

There! The same view, just larger. The guest house is right off the street, on the front lawn facing the main house where the tall white chimney is.

The view from the back of the estate, which is over an acre. Each garden is separated from the others which make them all very private. In this view, you again can’t see the guest house. The master bedroom is where the tall white chimney is. The guest house is across the front lawn and faces the house where the master bedroom is. To the right of this photo, where the white umbrella is, is the kitchen/family room terrace with its own outside fireplace. And in the middle of this photo is the large living room terrace that shares the space with the guest room.

Here is the same view from the back that shows the guest house, which is right next to the street. It shares the front lawn with the master bedroom.

Why is the guest house so important?

Because, the entire premise of the movie revolves around the guest house. In “Home Again,” Reese aka Alice turns 40 and has just moved to L.A., newly divorced with 2 daughters. She meets three young filmmakers who end up living in her guest house while they work on their movie.

So, Nancy and Hallie had to find a house to film in which also had a guest house. That detail must have made the search all that much harder, but it looks like they chose a great house!

This aerial view shows the gravel driveway with the white stucco wall with a wood gate that separates the front driveway from the yard. And again, the guest house is cut off in the photograph. But it is at the very right of this photo, on the front lawn.

OK. NOW.

Does the house look familiar to you at all?

The house was on the market a few years ago and by sheer luck, we have the real estate photos. Here is the view from the gravel driveway leading up to the courtyard and house.

You can see that on the right, the white stucco wall is now covered by ivy.

Real Estate: photos of the house before it became the set of “Home Again”

“HOME AGAIN:” Notice the pretty lantern high in the tree and the fruit on the trees!! Isn’t this charming?!?! The movie was filmed in winter, but this California and it is always blooming.

During filming, the courtyard fountain was dressed up with lily pads and flowering plants and everyone posed around for Instagram.

From the movie’s trailer – Reese takes a call out in the courtyard. From the trailer, it looks like a lot of the action takes place outside the house – by the fireplace terrace, the courtyard, and the pool. Inside, a lot of action takes place in the kitchen and dining room.

In the courtyard, during filming: the producer Nancy Meyers with the director/writer, her daughter Hallie Meyers-Shyer. The cutest! Notice the winter coats.

REAL ESTATE: The walkway from the driveway to the main house.

Reese with Nancy and Hallie and two of the younger men who star in the movie. The two little girls play Alice’s daughters. The gentleman on the right is the cinematographer – the highly respected Dean Cundey. Dean was nominated for an Oscar for “Who Framed Roger Rabbit” and he won two Baftas for Roger Rabbit AND “Apollo 13.”

Dean also has worked with Nancy before - on The Holiday, The Parent Trap, and What Women Want!!

So, what’s my scoop?

Does the house look familiar to any of you?

Remember this décor book?

“Elements of Style” by Diane Doreen Saeks – the book showcased the work of Michael S. Smith, the decorator of the Obamas. Sigh.

This book was written some years ago, in 2005, and it featured a house owned by Cindy Crawford and her husband Rande Gerber, which Michael had decorated. That house is the same one in “Home Again.” Additionally, Elle Décor did a story on the house.

Cindy Crawford, one of the original owners of the house in “Home Again” standing in the front courtyard, surrounded by mounds of lavender!! I wonder what happened to all the lavender?

But Cindy isn’t the only celebrity to have lived here.

Right after Cindy and Rande moved out, Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner moved in. Shown here in 2005 – around the time they moved in. The couple later moved into the famous Cliff May ranch house that Brian Grazer once owned. Look how happy and in love the now divorced couple once were.

The house where “Home Again” was filmed is only 3,850 sq. ft. It’s original to Brentwood – built in 1929. It has 5 bedrooms and 5.5 bathrooms and 14 rooms in total. In 1936, the house was renovated.

Also, Cindy Crawford added on a new kitchen and the fireplace/terrace outside the kitchen.

After filming was completed 3 building permits were issued for the house:

1. Convert garage to habitable and build a carport. (I wonder where?)

2. Add: 1,152 sf of new living quarters and deck (Again, I wonder WHERE?)

3. General remodeling.

I’d love to see the finish project!!

On the one acre property, the house is surrounded by groves of olive trees, many of which were planted under Cindy’s direction.

Perhaps the new 1,152 new sq. footage will be added onto the front lawn?

THE KITCHEN/FAMILY ROOM GARDEN:

2002: The prettiest aspect of the house is all of its private gardens. Here is the outside fireplace with terrace as it looked in Elle Décor when Cindy Crawford lived there. This is what Cindy and Rande built.

REAL ESTATE: And here it is when it was sold a few years ago.

HOME AGAIN: How the house was found, before it was decorated for the movie.

HOME AGAIN: The décor for the movie is starting to come together. Outdoor table and chairs, umbrella, pillows and votives were added.

HOME AGAIN: A dinner party on the terrace off the family room.

Notice the blue and white vases with red and pink roses – just as was presented on the color palette-mood board. Shades of the Something’s Gotta Give infamous dinner! This looks like a great scene!!

HOME AGAIN: Reese/Alice at her dinner party.

HOME AGAIN: Filming at night on the kitchen terrace.

And turning night into day. Or vice – versa?!!

HOME AGAIN: The three young filmmakers are living in Alice’s guest house. They obviously grow very close to the two little girls.

Reese as Alice Kinney

Michael Sheen plays her husband

Pico Alexander – next to Sheen – plays Reese’s handsome love interest, in his 20s. Hey – it’s good enough for the President of France!!!

Pico is going to be the breakout star of the movie. He is GORGEOUS!!!

THE SWIMMING POOL GARDEN:

Real Estate Photos. The living room overlooks the swimming pool and there is another stone terrace off the living room and guest bedroom.

I hate to say this but the neighbor’s roof looks so unattractive next to Cindy’s beautiful Spanish tiles. Thankfully there is the tall stucco fence that separates the properties, along with lots of lush landscaping.

2002: Elle Magazine, Cindy Crawford’s swimming pool. The scalloped umbrella is darling! The colors in this styling for the magazine are the exact same ones used in the film – reds, pinks, and blues.

Real Estate Photos. A view of the living room window and the swimming pool.

Real Estate photos of the pool.

“HOME AGAIN” A view of the pool set for the movie. Notice the large olive jars in the background and the lantern. At least the swing set is gone…I think!

HOME AGAIN. From inside the living room, showing the pink daybed – looking out the window to the swimming pool.

The pink repeats the color palette-mood board for the design of the film.

THE LIVING ROOM/GUEST BEDROOM TERRACE:

Real Estate: Photos from the living room/guest bedroom terrace overlooking the swimming pool.

Real Estate: Photo from the living room/guest bedroom – overlooking the terrace.

THE FRONT LAWN GARDEN:

And we are now back to the front of the house – with the master bedroom terrace looking over the front lawn. Steps lead from the terrace down to the lawn. You can barely see the blue from the spa at the left of the terrace. I do wonder if this bedroom was added on to the house at some later date – its stone roof looks a little newer. And of course you can’t see the guest house in this photo. But it’s at the end of the front lawn.

BEFORE: From Elle Décor & Elements of Style: Cindy Crawford’s master bedroom leading down to the front lawn. The hidden spa is off to the left of the terrace. Beautiful. In an interview, Cindy said she loved driving up to the house, closing the gates and feeling like she was in a European countryside. Eventually, she and her family moved completely to Malibu.

HOME AGAIN: Yoga classes on the front lawn, off the terrace. Large rattan chairs were used to decorate the terrace.

REAL ESTATE PHOTOS: Here is the guest house with its arches and terrace. It leads to the front lawn and faces the master bedroom. The swing set is between the guest house and the master bedroom for some odd reason. It’s probably been removed now. I hope!!

HOME AGAIN: Night-time outdoor movies shown by the guest house.

The bright blankets pick up the mood board color palette’s orange and pink and blues.

HOME AGAIN: Nancy relaxes on the outside “set.”

HOME AGAIN. Uh-oh. Who’s waiting at home on the gravel courtyard? The ex-husband!!

Ready to go inside the house?

THE ENTRY:

2002: Cindy Crawford. The front door with the peep-door and beautiful Spanish tile floor. That lantern is still in the house today. Notice the air grate. So beautiful! What a pretty entry.

HOME AGAIN. The front entry with the same paneled door. Decorative baskets hang on the wall instead of an antique mirror like Cindy had.

THE LIVING ROOM:

2002: Cindy Crawford decorated by Michael S. Smith. The sofas are covered in Bennison. The large window overlooks the pool, the doors on the right open to the terrace. The family room is to the left, on the other side of the fireplace.

I love the way Smith decorated the house, but this is my least favorite room of the lot for some reason. I’ve never cared that much for what he did here, but the other rooms are wonderful.

Maybe it’s those leather chairs I don’t care for?

The cover of the Elle Décor from 2002. Do you remember this story? The living room looks prettier in this photo.

2002: Cindy Crawford. Tramp art mirror over the fireplace.

Here the family posed in their living room. Cindy actually gave birth to both her children at home, right here in this very house!!! Presley is absolutely gorgeous and her daughter is now her doppelganger!!

REAL ESTATE: The wood ceiling is now painted stark white as are all the beams. These curtains remain in the house today.

HOME AGAIN: The curtains are from the previous owners. They used simple slip covered furniture with seagrass and a pink rug layered over it. At the window is a Moroccan rug and the hottest item of the year – the rattan day bed.

Candace Bergen!! I can’t wait to see her!!!!

Candace dressed in soft pinks from the color palette mood board. Doesn’t she look wonderful?!?!

THE daybed. No sitting allowed except for during filming.

This daybed at Serena and Lily is the must-have décor item of the year. Of course it would be in a Nancy Meyers movie! HERE.

The pinks pick up the color from the mood board. Darling pillows.

I’m sure they will take professional photographs of the rooms, neatly styled for all the magazines, web sites and blogs. Speaking of blogs, Nancy told Elle Decor that her favorite decor blogs are Habitually Chic, Remodelista and Belgian Pearls!

Oh, to be named on that list!!!

The movie is due out Labor Day weekend, so it’s still a few months away for all the PR press.

Movie props! That clock is darling!!

THE FAMILY ROOM:

2002: Cowtan and Tout fabric on the sofa with Brunschwig and Fils on the shades. Stone floors. This room is on the opposite side of the living room. I love the décor in the family room – this is so classic Michael S. Smith.

HOME AGAIN: The Family Room. I love the curtains used on this set.

Alice talks with her ex-husband played by Michael Sheen. Alice doesn’t look too thrilled her husband is back. And I just noticed he has a band-aid on his forehead! He gets in a fight with one of the three young men!

The door leading to the kitchen is off the front courtyard. The little one’s cute face!!

The door to the kitchen is right next to the dining room. The sconces are from Cindy’s day.

One note. These iron framed doors/window are so “on trend” today. But, these have been used in older houses forever. Remember, this house was built in 1929!! I would paint them black though – I’m not crazy about the rust colored paint.

Another view of the kitchen next to the dining room. The wooden double doors leading into the dining room are Spanish.

THE DINING ROOM:

2002: The original Michael S. Smith décor for the dining room as seen in Elle Décor and Elements of Style. I absolutely love this room as Smith designed it. He used Bennison’s Dragon Flower fabric for the curtains. And notice the classic chandelier that Smith chose for Cindy, it is still in the house today.

Through the opening is the breakfast room.

REAL ESTATE: The dining room today. You can see the wood Spanish double doors leading to the kitchen. To the right is the breakfast room. And notice Cindy’s chandelier and sconces remain today.

HOME AGAIN: The view from the courtyard walkway, looking into the dining room and through to the breakfast room beyond it.

THE KITCHEN:

2002: Cindy Crawford’s kitchen as seen in the Elements of Style and Elle Décor. Cindy and her husband Rande added on the kitchen and the outside fireplace. I’m sure a new kitchen was needed since the house was built in the 1920s. Today, the kitchen is painted white, not cream. AND, it looks like there are new blue and white tiles in the movie. Not sure if they are permanent or if it’s slight of hand. Cindy’s open cabinets were later closed in by a former owner.

REAL ESTATE: It looks like the only change was the kitchen was painted white and a new textured shade was added. Across from the kitchen is the dining area with the wonderful light fixture placed by Michael Smith for Cindy.

HOME AGAIN: The main change is the new blue and white tiles that are much more vibrant than the previous ones. Also, there are new Mark Sikes-type of blue and white striped linen shades at the windows.

Maybe the darker blue and white shows up better on film than the mostly white tile with some blue that was there before.

The view of the new blue and white striped linen shades. In the adjoining room – the cute breakfast room, it looks like the original shades were retained.

The gang congregates around the kitchen island.

Food for filming.

The dining room looking into the kitchen – the blue and white china matches that on the color palette mood board. And, I love how Michael Sheen is wearing a blue and white striped shirt ala Mark Sikes.

Notice how the art on the wall really matches the mood board with its orange and pink stripes – it all coordinated.

The other side of the dining room, with the painted cabinet.

I have to say that I do prefer Michael S. Smith’s décor in this room. It seems more fitting with the house’s architecture:

I know the table and chairs used in the movie are “on trend” – I just prefer a more traditional approach like these antique French chairs and table. I think Michael Smith’s décor here is so classic and will be beautiful for the ages.

By the way, the small breakfast room is really cute, but there aren’t many photos of it!! There is a marble top table, like a Saarinen, along with a linen striped fabric, a banquette, and rattan chairs. Here’s a peek at it:

It looks like a Saarinen table with rattan chairs and striped cushions.

And past the kitchen – is this tiny peek into the breakfast room – it shows a banquette with linen fabric and rattan chair(s.) I think! It’s hard to tell.

And one more tiny peek at the breakfast room from the dining room – I wish we could see more! Oh well, September will be here soon enough.

The Master Bedroom:

In 2002: In Elle Décor and Elements of Style. The master bedroom with a beautiful raised ceiling and a hanging Moroccan styled lantern. The gorgeous antique screen is a focal point. On the bed is a suzani, once the textile du jour for Michael Smith. Two French doors flank the fireplace, which lead to a terrace and the front lawn.

OK.

This reminds me of why we all have loved Michael S. Smith so much over all these years. I love how he thought to put a screen against the long wall! I love that lantern and wonder if it is still there now? We might have to wait for the movie to find out.

Real Estate: The master bedroom today. Looks a bit different! Not nearly as pretty as when Cindy lived there! The two French doors lead out to the terrace and the front lawn. At the end of the large lawn you can just barely see the guest house where in the movie Alice puts up the three young filmmakers.

AND…notice there is a door on the left wall. So…THIS is the reason why Michael Smith had the brilliant idea to put the screen there – he was hiding something!! LOL

HOME AGAIN. And here is the bedroom as seen in the movie. There is a sort of foyer into the room as you can see to the right of Reese.

And as the room was decorated for the movie. The colorful headboard follows the color palette mood board. In fact, that headboard looks exactly like the one that was shown on the board:

The color palette mood board. Notice the photograph of the bedroom that was source for the movie.

Here is that exact photo:

This photo from a magazine was pinned and then put on the color palette mood board for the movie “Home Again.” It appears the Production Design found a bed very similar to it, but without the canopy.

The master bedroom headboard, which is very similar to the one on the mood board.

And from Instagram, the director Hallie Meyers-Shyer goes over lines with the star, Pico Alexander. I think Pico is going to be a huge heart throb after this movie.

REAL ESTATE: The bathroom is quite attractive with a standing sink and with a marble & paneled wood surround on the tub. A large window opens to the garden. I love the old fashioned medicine chest.

HOME AGAIN: Reese has a crying scene in the bathroom where there is now a shade at the window, but otherwise it looks very much the same.

Here she cries in the medicine chest’s mirror.

The Guest Room:

2002: From Elle Décor and Elements of Style. The guest room is quite fantastic with a canopy bed, Oriental rug, antique chair, chest, and porcelain lamp. Another suzani is placed on the bed. Beautiful and classic Michael Smith. This door opens to the back terrace that it shares with the living room. Beautiful, full, striped curtains – classic Michael S. Smith.

Another photo from the guest room shows the opposite side of the room, with a desk and antique mirror.

REAL ESTATE: This shows the guest room and how it shares the same terrace with the living room and the swimming pool beyond it.

SECOND GUEST ROOM:

REAL ESTATE: This photo shows the second guest room.

HOME AGAIN: And here is the second guest room used for the younger daughter’s bedroom. It looks like they didn’t even have to repaint the room.

THE GUEST HOUSE:

REAL ESTATE: As mentioned before, the guest house is located at the front of the property, right off the street. It faces the front lawn and the master bedroom. Here is how it looked when the real estate photos were taken a few years ago.

HOME AGAIN: And here it is, shown during a movie night. So cute!

HOME AGAIN: Inside, the guest room is furnished in creams and white with touches of deep blue. I only see one bed, not sure where all three slept? It looks like there is either a laundry room or kitchenette included in the guest house.

I guess the three boys are happy just to have a place to stay!

Here they have a fight over Alice – you can see the terrace that overlooks the front lawn.

In this scene, it looks like perhaps Alice Kinney was once in a movie. You can see the actor’s chair with the name Kinney written on it. And there is a poster for a movie “Lola In Between” which Hallie Meyers-Shyer actually wrote the screenplay for when she was still in high school. It looks like she resurrected that screenplay to be a part of this, her first motion picture. Since the boys are filmmakers, is Alice sharing her cache of film reels and scripts with them? Notice the actress starring in “Lola in Between” is Lillian Stewart. Candace’s name in “Home Again” is Lillian Stewart, so there is some connection between Lillian and Alice and movies and the three boys.

There also seems to be another sub plot involving Alice’s oldest daughter acting in a play and the boys coaching her?

Who knows? It’s hard to tell an entire script from a 2 minute trailer, but I tried.

All I know is I can’t wait to see Home Again!!

And finally:

For everything you need to know about the “Home Again,” go HERE.

My friend Linda Merrill has a story on her blog about “Home Again” if you want to read more! HERE.

AND…..

Since Hallie, Nancy and Reese are all connected to Mark Sikes with his love of blue and white stripes..

here are a few things I found that can give you that fresh blue and white look:

LOVE THIS CHAIR! It comes in a lot of different fabrics, but the check is fabulous!!! HERE

Have a white Slipcovered sofa? Add some blue & white striped pillows for an immediate change HERE.

Bar cart: HERE

OK, how cute is this??? Blue & white striped headboard. HERE

Great bench HERE.

Bench – so cute in red & white check. I love to mix in red or pink with the blues. HERE

How about just a touch of Mark? Cutest dog bed!! HERE

And magazine bins, plant boxes, whatever you need: HERE

and finally, this throw, which can be used to place over a sofa back cushion, be used on a bed, tossed over a chair, cover a table – any way you want to bring stripes to the décor. Plus there are many different colors and patterns. HERE.

See you at the movies!

from COTE DE TEXAS http://cotedetexas.blogspot.com/2017/07/nancy-meyers-comes-home-again.html

0 notes